Thursday, February 6, 2014

Another Part in Paisley

I won't ask anyone to guess what part of the human anatomy inspired my paisley, here; there's only one vaguely identifiable anatomical structure on view:



But I'll give you a minute to ponder it.








Answer below.



 





It's a liver.

And because the friend I made it for, whose liver has been misbehaving, is a Hornblower fan, it's inspired as much by Royal Navy uniforms as by medical images.
 

I collaged some of my source images.
The most identifiable is the liver lobules (center, top row):
 the liver is made up of thousands of these. 
They're served by blood vessels, which I imagined as the fringe of shoulder epaulettes.

The liver enzyme cytochrome P45 ("2D6" center, bottom row--I gather it helps process medicines/drugs) looks like curled ribbons, or, I thought, rather like the "rank slides" of the Royal Navy. 
(I think this liver is only a sub-lieutenant.)

The gallbladder, tucked up under the liver, is lined with watermelon seeds. Or so it seems.


The paisley's red tail––some naval uniforms have red sashes and trim––suggests the upper gastrointenstinal tract and the nerve cells (those dancing starfish) embedded in its lining.

3 comments:

The Crow said...

My guess was the tongue - way off!

I am impressed with your facility for taking disparate bits from such unrelated elements and turning them into beautiful art. I look forward to these paisleys of yours, Fresca. They're such treats for the spirit!

Zhoen said...

Paisley impressions of anatomical parts.

After you explained, I can see what inspired you.

Bookworm said...

This paisley is awesome! The rich colours make me think of illustrated manuscripts, too.

More please! And a range of postcards.